Baltimore County poised to purchase St. Pius X property for much-needed ball fields

Baltimore County Councilman Mike Ertel and state Del. Cathi Forbes are one big step closer to their field of dreams.

The Baltimore County Council is set to approve a contract Monday to buy the 10-acre St. Pius X Church property for $6 million, with plans to use the site for parks and recreation.

Ertel and Forbes, both Towson Democrats, have been advocating for nearly two decades for more playing fields in the densely populated, walkable York Road corridor. Their work on the issue long predates their careers in politics.

St. Pius was always the Holy Grail, so to speak: the property abuts York Road and is steps from Rodgers Forge Elementary and Dumbarton Middle schools. It includes a shuttered church and school building, a former rectory and convent, a parking lot and ball fields.

“We’re really excited about this because we’ll get some playing fields, we’ll have some park space and the church might become a community center of some kind,” Ertel said in a phone interview.

A county attorney introduced the contract at this week’s council work session, where it received bipartisan support. Passage appears likely, in part because council members typically don’t vote against projects in another member’s district, a practice known as councilmanic courtesy.

Councilman Izzy Patoka, a Pikesville Democrat, called the proposed sale “transformative,” not just for Towson but for communities across the county that need more opportunities for structured activities.

“There is never enough rec space,” Patoka said. “It’s taking huge strides towards addressing that problem.”

David Marks, a Republican who used to represent Towson, and Julian Jones, the Democratic nominee for county executive, also expressed support.

Yvonne Wenger, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, declined to comment because the sale is pending. She noted that the property is owned by St. Pius X Roman Catholic Congregation, incorporated as a separate entity from the Archdiocese.

A lack of field space

Towson’s population grew almost 20% from 1990 to 2024. With it came a surge in the number of young people who flocked to soccer, lacrosse and baseball fields. Many were girls, enthralled with the possibility of playing for and getting scholarships to colleges.

If they attended public schools, practice space was at a premium. The Towson Recreation Council, which provides youth sports leagues for thousands of participants, paid tens of thousands a year to rent private fields, Ertel said.

Stephen Giordani, the nonprofit’s president, played on the same fields that his daughter, Isabella, uses now. But because of all the people who needed the field space, the elementary school student had her games at 9:30 p.m.

“It’s very challenging,” Giordani, whose organization provides baseball, lacrosse, basketball and soccer leagues for about 7,000 participants, said at a 2024 meeting where dozens of residents pushed for purchasing the church property. “It all comes down to available field space.”

Residents at the meeting were so committed to preserving the ball fields that they offered to try to make up the difference between what the seller would accept and what the county and the state would pay. In addition to needing the fields, they expressed concern over more housing in the tight corridor if the property was sold to a developer.

The financials

The county is advancing the contract even though the financial terms of the sale have not been finalized. The figures available are only estimates.

An estimated $3.5 million of the $6 million purchase price is expected to come from Program Open Space, a state Department of Natural Resources fund that protects open land and preserves recreational opportunities.

The state’s contribution is typically based on the average of two independent appraisals. But those appraisals had not been completed when the County Council discussed the proposed purchase at its work session this week, so the final amount remains uncertain.

One appraiser has verbally estimated the property’s value at $5 million, county spokesperson Dakarai Turner said in an email. The county expects the second appraisal within two weeks, potentially after the council votes on the contract.

The state’s contribution matters because the county would have to cover the remaining cost, currently estimated at $2.5 million. Ertel said the county has allocated enough money from its general fund to pay that amount.

The contract gives the county until Dec. 15 to reconsider the deal and walk away if the appraisal comes in lower than expected, thereby increasing the county’s share of the cost.

Turner said the St. Pius site offers a rare chance to add recreation space. The county moved ahead without the appraisals because there was competition for the property, he added.

“The administration made the business decision to convey an offer prior to having updated appraisals in hand in order to minimize the risk of losing this unique opportunity,” Turner wrote in an email.

The Baltimore Archdiocese has sold half a dozen churches in the city and the suburbs since it announced its Seek the City to Come initiative to right-size the parishes in Baltimore, a move that has brought in $10 million.

St. Pius parishioners pushed back against the archdiocese’s efforts to close their beloved stone church and adjoining gardens. They still attracted more than 100 worshippers at Sunday Mass, and it was the only Catholic church in the immediate area. They appealed the closure to the Vatican, but their lawyers informed them they lost the battle this past spring.

Restricted uses

A restrictive covenant in the sale agreement would limit how the property could be used, prohibiting certain abortion-related services, counseling and advocacy; the promotion of certain birth-control products; and some alcohol-related activities and sales.

That’s not unusual. Religious organizations often impose such limits when selling former church properties to prevent future uses that conflict with their moral or theological principles. Wenger, the Archdiocese spokesperson, said that the clause is standard in their sales agreements.

Peta Richkus, communications director of the Baltimore County chapter of the National Organization for Women, questioned whether public spaces funded by taxpayers should restrict legal activities.

“If the Catholic Church needs to offload property for its own financial interest, what is in the county’s interest to agree to such a stipulation?” Richkus said. “Let them take the money and run. But they should then have no say in what goes on in the future.”

Ertel said he did not expect the restrictions to conflict with the county’s plans to use the property for recreation and parks.

“I think, for the majority of the people that were part of this acquisition team, we were looking at it as badly needed recreation space,” Ertel said. “To worry about being able to sell a beer there was not a consideration.”